Franklin, Tennessee Real Estate Market Outlook for 2015 – 2016

Whether you’re buying or selling a home in Franklin, Tennessee, it helps to know what the local market is doing. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the current housing trends in 2015, along with a real estate market outlook for 2016.

At a glance: With significant home-price appreciation over the last year, and continued appreciation likely over the next 12 months, the Franklin, Tennessee real estate market appears to be on solid footing. That’s the gist of the latest market reports for our area. Here’s a more in-depth review of local housing trends.

Franklin Real Estate Market in 2015

Let’s start with home sales, since that’s one of the biggest stories right now. According to the Williamson County Association of Realtors (WCAR), the number of homes sold in Williamson County rose 20% in June 2015, compared to the same time last year.

There are several reasons for this uptick in sales. There is more demand for housing today, thanks to low mortgage rates and economic improvements. Secondly, homeowners are feeling more confident about listing their homes for sale. As a result, more real estate transactions took place in Franklin this summer compared to last.

Home inventory is still tight, according to several sources. This is leading to faster home sales in Franklin and across Williamson County. WCAR reports that “Single family homes are moving from listing to close in a two month time span, while condos are moving on and off the market at breakneck speeds.”

In June, the average number of days on the market (DOM) for homes dropped from 65 days to 61. The DOM for condos fell to 45 days in June, down from 50 days last year. This means sellers are enjoying quicker sales today than in the past, another sign of the strong housing market in Franklin, Tennessee.

House Values Have Risen Above the Bubble Peak

In May 2015, the median sale price for homes in Franklin, Tennessee was somewhere between $385,000 and $400,000 (depending on the source). In August 2006, at the height of the housing bubble, the median sale price for our real estate market was $339,000. That means home prices are actually higher now than they were during the housing bubble.

It bears repeating: No matter how you measure it — list price, sale price, or average value — homes in the area are worth more now than they were at the peak of the housing bubble.

Most housing analysts agree that home prices will continue rising into 2016, though possibly at a slower pace than what we’ve seen over the last year.

Franklin is one of the most desirable places to live in the entire Nashville metro area, and this directly affects our home prices and the strength of our real estate market in 2015. It’s also why we’ve seen such tremendous population growth over the last 35 years or so. The latest census data from 2013 showed that the city’s population had increased more than fivefold, reaching 68,886.

Outlook for 2016: Price “Cooling” on the Horizon?

The real estate information company Zillow tracks home-pricing trends for most cities across the country. According to their data, the median home price in Franklin rose by 4.5% over the last year or so (July 2014 – July 2015). Going forward, Zillow’s economic team “predicts [home prices] will rise 1.9% within the next year.”

So while we could see continued appreciation well into 2016, it might be more modest when compared to last year’s gains. Just keep in mind this is one company’s view of the local market in Franklin. So you shouldn’t base any financial decisions on it.